Strong Winds Take Broward By Storm Gusts Ground Pilots, Beachgoers

There have been more things in the air than usual the past few days: sand, leaves and tree branches.

And some things have been grounded: student pilots, the Goodyear blimp, construction workers and beachgoers.

High winds powered through South Florida this week, paralyzing some businesses. Even Boca Raton kite merchant Brenda Huntington said it was ``too, too windy. I wouldn`t even dare fly my kite Sunday.``

Gusts up to 46 mph were reported on Monday and Tuesday, said Charles Nabors, a weather specialist at the National Weather Service in West Palm Beach.

After stronger winds on Monday, the northeasterly winds were down to about 15 to 20 mph on Tuesday, Noel Risnychok of the weather service`s Coral Gables office said. The winds should continue to wane today, he said.

``It`s windy down here in the wintertime, but not normally this strong of a wind,`` Nabors said.

The cause is a strong high-pressure system off the coast, Risnychok said.

The wind has been a problem, Hollywood Marine Safety Officer Lane Vetter said. ``The (beach) erosion has been quite bad.

``Even one of our first-aid shacks fell victim to the high tide and erosion; it was ruined,`` Vetter said. He said the shack, which was scheduled for replacement, collapsed.

``There`s a lot of sand blowing around the beach,`` Pompano Beach lifeguard Capt. Jim Kehl said. ``It`s not very nice to lay out in. They put on oil and get coated with sand.``

Although winds were strong on the ground, they were twice as nasty up 300 feet at the top of the 21-floor New River Center, under construction in downtown Fort Lauderdale, said Randall Flynn, general superintendent of McDevitt & Street General Contractors.

The winds were so strong that construction work has been stopped, on and off, for about a week, Flynn said. Hard hats fly off and workers wobble from the gusts, he said.

Cranes are a problem, he said. ``The loads you pick up, they turn into kites,`` he said.

Air traffic at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines was cut by half because student pilots were not allowed to fly in the high winds, air traffic manager John Atkinson said. The wind also grounded some student pilots at Boca Raton Airport, Boca Aviation President Mark Wanthouse said.

``It`s been terrible for us,`` said Jerry Jenkins, spokesman for the Pompano Beach-based Goodyear blimp Enterprise.

Enterprise has not been in the air, mostly because of strong winds, since it returned from Daytona Beach a week ago, Jenkins said.

``It was a great for flying a kite the other day, I took my son to the park and flew a kite, but not a blimp,`` Jenkins said.

It could be worse. In Europe, a weekend storm with winds gusting up to 120 mph killed 38 people.